The US ambassador to China, Nick Burns, warned that the US and China have a “very competitive, very challenging, very contentious” relationship in an interview with FOX Business Network’s Edward Lawrence.
TikTok rejects US ban fast approaching January 19th. The fate of the social media platform is ambiguous as well The relationship between the USA and China.
Ambassador Nick Burns believes that TikTok and other social media apps founded by China represent a strategy to undermine America from within because the relationship between the two countries is “very competitive, very challenging, very contentious,” he told FOX Business.
“I think it’s a strategy. You know, China is a very significant global power. They want to overtake the United States in power. They want to diminish us,” he said.
Burns also noted that the Chinese Communist Party runs a massive propaganda machine that censors incoming information about freedoms in the United States and distorts our problems, ultimately making the US look bad.
THE CEO OF TIKTOK WILL ATTEND THE INAUGURATION IN THE FIRST ROW AT TRUMP’S INVITATION
A general view of the TikTok headquarters on October 13, 2020 in Culver City, California. (Photo: AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
As for TikTok, Burns explained that it’s a battle for ideas and every Chinese company ultimately answers to the Chinese government. A White House source familiar with the situation told FOX Business that President Biden supported the bipartisan bill that is now law banning the app, but since Jan. 19 falls on a Sunday, it’s up to the Trump administration to honor the ban. , which was confirmed by the Supreme Court on Friday. Inauguration day is January 20.
On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump provided details of a recent conversation with the Chinese president.
“I just spoke with President Xi Jinping of China. The call was very good for both China and the US. I expect that we will solve many problems together, and immediately. We talked about balancing trade, fentanyl, TikTok and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the world more peaceful and safer!”
TRUMP, CHINA’S XI INVITATION SPEECH BEFORE THE INAUGURATION
Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds during a joint press conference of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, north China’s Shaanxi province on May 19, 2023. (Photo by FLORENCE LO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Burns stressed that the US must remain tough on China because Communist Party leaders only understand strength.
“They have to pay the price. I mean, I agree with you. You just know, I’ve spent the last few years debating, pushing, arguing with Chinese leaders and how they really react to our actions,” he said. He thinks the next administration needs to continue the pressure campaign against China. Burns believes in tariffs on Chinese goods and sanctions until the country establishes a fairer trading environment and treats American companies more fairly.
USA AND CHINA AI RACE IS HAPPENING FAST
In Wednesday’s testimony for the Senate nominee for Trump’s secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio, many of the questions centered around China. Rubio told senators, “PR China is the most powerful and dangerous near-pure adversary this nation has ever faced.” He added that there is a dangerous imbalance in US-China relations.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., stops to speak with reporters as he arrives at the Capitol from the Senate subway on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Burns advises the US to rely on its allies in Asia, adding: “Never in the history of the United States have we faced a competitor as strong as China. And so we must make a whole-of-government effort to compete. One of the great the advantages we have is that China has no allies in the world, we have treaty allies Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO SET FOX BUSINESS IN CRETE
The US is not losing to China yet, but we must be vigilant.
“Actually, if I had to measure the power of the United States against China, we are stronger,” he said.
To keep it that way, he says, a whole-of-government approach will be needed.
Burns resigned Friday after first walking through the doors of the State Department 45 years ago.
